The Effect of Cultural Background on Attitude Toward Collaborative
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The effect of cultural background on attitude toward collaborative consumption on the website Withlocals A cross-cultural comparison between Turkey and The Netherlands Faculty of Humanities Communication and Information Sciences Master Thesis Susanne Geboers ANR: 676016 First reader: Dr. A. el Aissati Second reader: Dr. P.K. Varis 20/01/2014 Acknowledgements This thesis signifies the perfect ending to a stimulating, informative and exciting university period of 4,5 years. I could not have been where I am right now if it were not for my parents, Onur, friends and especially my grandmother Oma Ali. I would like to thank all these people for being in my life and giving me support and happiness. Especially with regard to this thesis, I would like to thank dr. A. el Aissati for his creativity, friendliness, humor and support throughout my entire thesis period. He truly is a great professor and I am honored to have been able to write my thesis under his supervision. Also, I would like to thank dr. P.K. Varis, for being the second reader. Lastly, I would like to thank all the respondents for making time in their busy schedules for me and providing me with useful and interesting answers. 2 Abstract This study investigated the effect of cultural background on the attitudes of Dutch and Turkish young adults toward collaborative consumption on the website Withlocals. The influence of culture is defined by the dimensions of uncertainty avoidance, collectivism versus individualism, power distance, masculinity versus femininity and long term orientation versus short term orientation. Directions of attitude are identified as the attitude toward the website Withlocals and the attitude toward the local host in Southeast Asia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 Dutch respondents from the province of Noord-Brabant and 10 Turkish respondents coming from the city of Istanbul. All respondents are between the ages of 20-30 years old and have a good knowledge of the English language. Answers given by the respondents were partly directly asked for and partly self-declared. The transcripts of the interviews were coded and the dimensions of national cultures were used as main coding categories. Furthermore, several sub-categories and classifications were identified. Results indicate various consequences with regard to website design, such as the possibility to add reviews/ratings, and to create salience by the use of pictures. Among others, results indicate that Turkish respondents prefer a host with a similar social status and place more importance on maintaining contact with the host after the experience. On the other hand, Dutch respondents would like to see reviews about the website Withlocals on an independent website, place great importance on a host who is on time for the experience and attach less importance to maintaining a relationship with the host after the experience. In addition, this study presents practical implications and directions for future research. Keywords: collaborative consumption, social sharing, collectivism, individualism, masculinity, femininity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, long term orientation, short term orientation, Turkey, The Netherlands, attitude, personal connection, Withlocals. 3 Table of contents Introduction p.6 Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework p.8 - Withlocals p.8 - Dimensions of Culture p.9 o Uncertainty Avoidance p.10 o Collectivism versus Individualism p.11 o Power Distance p.12 o Masculinity versus Femininity p.13 o Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Orientation p.12 - Attitude p.14 - Attitude toward the website Withlocals p.15 - Attitude toward the local host p.17 - Conceptual Model p.18 - The Dutch Culture p.19 - The Turkish Culture p.21 - Research Questions p.22 Chapter 2: Method and Design p.23 - Research Design p.23 - Informants p.24 - Procedure p.25 - Data Analysis p.26 Chapter 3: Results p.28 - Uncertainty Avoidance p.29 o Verification of the host p.29 o Verification of the website Withlocals p.30 o Anticipation of the experience p.31 o Navigation on the website p.32 o Anxiety about online payment p.33 - Collectivism versus Individualism p.33 o Inclusion in social circle p.35 o Punctuality p.36 o Family influence p.38 4 o Personal connection p.39 - Power Distance p.42 o Hierarchy p.42 - Masculinity versus Femininity p.43 o Intrinsic motives p.43 o Consensus between the tourist and the host p.44 o Competitive gain p.44 - Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Orientation p.44 o Reciprocal intentions p.45 Chapter 4: Discussion and Conclusion p.46 - Limitations of this research p.50 - Practical implications p.51 - Academic implications and recommendations for future research p.52 References p.53 Appendix A: Interview Guideline p.57 Appendix B: Questionnaire p.60 Appendix C: Fake Host Pages p.62 Appendix D: Hand-out p.64 Appendix E: Sub-categories and classifications p.65 5 Introduction Nowadays, with the rise of the networked society, a great deal of social encounters move to the online environment in which people have the opportunity to reach out to literally every corner of the world (Kaspersen, 2000). This development has an immense impact on the tourism industry, and massive tourism agencies are increasingly experiencing competition from companies started based on the idea of collaborative consumption. Collaborative consumption can be defined as experiences in which one or more individuals consume economic products or series in the occasion of participating in shared activities with one or more others (Leismann, Schmitt, Rohn and Baedeker, 2013). It departs from the idea of ‘what’s mine is yours’ and enables people to save money, create new friendships and become active consumers instead of participate in hyper- consumption (Botsman and Rogers, 2011). Collaborative consumption is not something new; it actually exists for a long time already. Think about lending a study book from a classmate, sharing an apartment with house-mates or carpooling with others to a similar destination. However, it is because of the rapid developments in technology that collaborative consumption has reached its peak in the past few years (Bainbridge, 2013). Especially, the interconnected environment of smart phones and social media provide the ideal platform for an effortless access to a communal economy (Bainbridge, 2013). In the tourism industry, there are several platforms which evolved from the spirit of collaborate consumption. For instance, Airbnb is a website that enables individuals to rent out their room, house or apartment to guests on holiday in a particular city. Instead of paying money to massive hotel chains or booking agencies, Airbnb facilitates a person-to-person transaction. Moreover, Couchsurfing is created with the motivation of connecting people worldwide. The idea is to offer one’s couch to a traveler, and to show him/her the city one lives in. Also, PlateCulture is a platform on which people can host dinners to other food-lovers, and introduce guests to their cooking skills and cuisine. A recent addition to join the league of collaborative consumption companies is the start-up Withlocals. The aim of this platform is to connect travelers and locals in Southeast Asia through home-cooked dinners, tours and activities. Just like Airbnb, a person-to- person transaction is being made, without the intervention of big tour operators. However, one can wonder, due to the global nature of social sharing, what influence does culture have on the expectations and preferences of consumers who actually engage in one of these communities? After all, not one culture is the same and aspects such as uncertainty avoidance, collectivism versus individualism, power distance, masculinity versus femininity and long-term versus short-term 6 orientation could possibly play a role in one’s attitude toward booking a dinner, apartment, couch, tour or activity with an individual at the other side of the world. This study aims to investigate this, and makes a cross-cultural comparison between Turkish and Dutch young adults, living in the city of Istanbul and the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant respectively. Furthermore, Withlocals will be used as the platform under investigation. Hence, the following research question is raised: Does cultural background influence the attitudes of Turkish and Dutch young adults toward collaborative consumption on the platform Withlocals? 7 Chapter 1 Theoretical Framework When discussing the attitude of a person toward a certain product, it should be taken into account that in this study, the product is not a material object. On the contrary, the product is a service provided by a person and because of this, the aspect of personal relationship is important to take into account. Characteristics of the service can be evaluated differently by different individuals. Based on a person’s cultural background, diverse expectations and preferences concerning this aspect of personal relationship in the buyer-seller situation may arise. In this study, the platform under investigation is Withlocals, a website which aims to connect locals in Southeast Asia and tourists directly, without the intervention of big tourism agencies. Before discussing the various dimensions of culture that could have an influence of an individual’s attitude, it is important to fully understand the structure of the website Withlocals. An explanation about this platform will be presented below. Withlocals The website Withlocals is part of the Greenhouse Group, and it is founded by Marijn Maas, Willem Maas and Mark Mansveld. The team was later joined by Ronald Crooy (CTO), Gino van de Staaij (Senior Experience Manager), various designers, developers, marketers, conversion specialists, web analysts and interns. The idea is that the local population in Southeast Asia can offer ‘experiences’ to tourists from all over the world. These ‘experiences’ can be divided into ‘tour’, ‘eat’ and ‘activity’. An ‘eat’ refers to a home dinner organized by the local, in which he or she invites the tourist to cook together or to simply let the tourist taste the local cuisine.